This patent is a continuing application claiming priority from related co-pending international application Serial No. PCT/EP00/05000, filed on May 13, 2000.
The present invention relates generally to grenade launchers, and more particularly to an attachable grenade launcher for installation on a rifle.
A grenade launcher mounted on a rapid-fire rifle, such as on an M16 U.S. rifle, has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,691. The grenade launcher is placed beneath the rifle barrel at the location of the forward stock, or, in the ""691 patent, where the hand guard is installed. The barrel extends somewhat parallel to the rifle barrel and bears beneath its muzzle a horizontally aligned transverse pin. The barrel with its back section can be swung downward about the pin. In the shooting position of the grenade barrel, there is a non-movable breech housing on the back section that forms an impact plate. A firing pin arrangement is installed into this plate. A trigger member extends downward from the pin arrangement.
For activating the trigger, the magazine of the rifle is seized with the right or left hand as though it were a handle. However, the magazine presents a poor handle because, when seated in place, it has, at most, a little play. Because of this, one would find it as being an unreliable support for the hand. Moreover, the recoil presses the sharp cornered magazine into the encompassing hand, which can be painful. Further, this can overload securement of the magazine.
The transverse pin and the breech housing are bound together by a relatively thin strip. The back end of the barrel is, when in the firing position, releasably engaged in the breech housing.
For the release of the barrel, a locking device is first unlocked and the barrel with its rear section is swung downward. During the unlocking procedure, the firing pin assembly is already cocked. Upon break-away of the barrel, a complex ejection mechanism is set in motion which is supposed to automatically and completely eject the fired cartridge shell by action of a spring. As a practical matter, it is usually sufficient that the ejection mechanism loosens the shell enough so that it subsequently can be removed completely by thumb and one finger without difficulty. The ejection mechanism is additionally attached to the thin strip, which weakens the structural strength or the strip.
The known attachable grenade launcher possesses certain disadvantages which cause it to be unsafe and unreliable. As do all attachable, swing-out weapons with self locking devices, the known grenade launcher has the disadvantage that the firing pin assembly is necessarily locked upon reload. The loaded grenade launcher, because of this, has a continually locked firing pin assembly. An expensive safety apparatus is thus required in order to prevent a shot from being involuntarily released. Such an involuntary shot can be caused by accidental activation of a safety catch and/or by a touch off of a hair trigger response, such as, for instance, by a branch during movement through a bushy area.
The above problem does not concern the known grenade launcher disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,507,067. This launcher possesses a trigger lock which locks the firing pin assembly only upon firing. For reload of this grenade launcher, the barrel is moved forward in a straight line with respect to the stationary breech housing.
Use of the rifle magazine as a handle is still a problem with the disclosed launcher in the ""067 patent. Further, swinging of the barrel downward is not especially favorable, particularly when the marksman is positioned in a fox hole. In this case, the rifle rests, as a rule, with the forward part on a raised support, which requires that for reload, the grenade launcher must first be raised or turned to the side.
Particularly disadvantageous is the removal of the empty cartridge, because it often jams and must be loosened by a bayonet or a similar tool. Because of reasons that are not immediately evident, the ejector mechanism has proved to be fully unreliable. Even greasing of the cartridgexe2x80x94without doubt, a problematic solution because of contaminationxe2x80x94does not render much aid. Many times, the ejector mechanism does not succeed in even loosening the cartridge shell to the extent that it can be removed by hand, to say nothing of a total ejection.